Blood, Sweat, and Tears
by LynDea
Summary: In a sudden fit of depression, Artemis starts cutting. No one notices because on the outside she was her regular, kick ass self. But, finally, Wally notices and confronts her about her problems.
1. Blood Sweat and Tears

**A/N: You guys can say whatever you want about this, but right now I'm going through a depression faze, again, and I'm hoping that if I write this, it will help me feel a little bit better and help me not want to start cutting again.**

**Summary: In a sudden fit of depression, Artemis starts cutting. No one notices because on the outside she was her regular, kick ass self. But, finally, Wally notices and confronts her about her problems.**

**Disclaimer: I think these are kind of stupid, I know you don't own this and you should know that I obviously don't own it, but I guess I'll throw it in anyways. At the moment I don't give a damn about much.**

**P.S. This will probably take place during season one. Between the time when she moves to Gotham Academy and maybe after Failsafe. I'll just have to see how it goes.**

Blood, Sweat, and Tears:

She was washing dishes in the kitchen when it suddenly hit her. She didn't even know where it came from. It just hit her, hard. Honestly, she didn't even know what it was. The only thing she DID know was that it hurt like hell.

She looked back at everything she had done recently. She didn't remember being injured during her after hours crime fighting with the team, and her body didn't feel like it was physically hurt.

What she did remember was her father visiting her. She had her father, her sister, and their "associate" breathing down her neck, trying to convince her to join the "dark side." She remembered moving away from all her friends at Gotham North to Gotham Academy, where she didn't know a soul. She did remember that no one on her team really trusted her. She remembered how she felt after she got her memories back in Bialya.

Then she went farther back. The memories wouldn't stop. She remembered her sister leaving her behind. She remembered her mother getting arrested. She remembered her father training her to kill, and beating her if she slipped up.

She remembered telling her friends at Gotham North that she was going to be going to Gotham Academy, and how they didn't want to talk to her anymore because of it. She remembered looking around the courtyard at her new school and seeing the multiple cliques of students that seemed impossible to penetrate. She remembered sitting alone at lunch for the first couple days until someone took pity on her and joined her.

She felt like crying. She bit it back. She was Artemis Crock, and she didn't DO crying. But why did she feel like she had just been punched in the gut? She felt confused and unhappy and even a little angry. She looked around the kitchen and her eyes fell on a knife beside the sink.

People cut when they were unhappy. Like emos. She wasn't an emo, but would it hurt to see if they really knew what they were talking about. She picked it up and looked at it. The silver of the knife gleamed in the light and reflected her face, like a mirror. She didn't look like hell, but she felt like it.

She looked at the knife, then at the tanned skin of her wrist. She brought the knife to her skin, and let it rest there. The metal was cold against her skin. She bit her lip, preparing herself for only God knew what. Then she stopped.

_What the hell am I thinking?!_ She thought.

But that thought only lasted a moment. Her heart felt like it was beating like a jackhammer. She felt like there was something running through her veins, something that caused her heart to just barely fall short of breaking. Something that could only be released through the shedding of her blood, the opening of her veins.

She brought the knife to her wrist again, but looked at her skin for a minute. She turned her wrist over so she was staring at the back of her hand, and brought the knife to her skin. She grit her teeth together, and pushed down, then dragged it across her skin.

It tickled at first, but then it hurt a little, only a little. She had expected blinding pain from the cut, but what she felt was . . . relief? Release? Euphoria? She didn't know, but God she knew that she felt better. She looked down at her wrist and saw that she was bleeding profusely. Which wasn't good, even thought it had felt great.

She cleaned the wound and put a big bandaid on it. She had cut herself deeper than she thought she did. She cleaned up the blood and then the knife. She put it in the sink to soak. She felt like smiling again, maybe even laughing. For the moment, she was feeling better.

She looked through her's and Jade's room and found a clunky bracelet under Jade's bed. She slipped it around her wrist. It covered up the bandage perfectly.

She changed her clothes and grabbed her jacket. She had decided that she was going to go to cave for a while. She bounded out of her room and kissed her mom on the cheek, telling her that she would be back later.

She left and headed for the transporter. She was in such a good mood; she figured that she might as well share it with her friends. She got into the transporter and was transported to the cave in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. If her friends thought it was weird that she was so cheerful, they never let on.

It wasn't long after she cut the first time that she was doing it again and again. Sometimes they were small cuts, and sometimes they were larger cuts. But she always managed to cover them up somehow, and no one seemed to notice. For a while, all she wanted was for people to look at her wrists and accuse her of hurting herself, but then again she didn't want people looking at her and thinking that she was weak. It was after moments like that that she would reach for her hunting knife and give herself a fresh cut.

And every time she cut, she felt better again. Eventually someone might notice, she reasoned, but until then she would revel in the amazing feeling of relief that she could give herself. When she felt like she was flying as high as kite was when she liked to approach things in her life.

Not even her mom noticed, but then again, she didn't want her mom to find out about it. She didn't want to think about the disappointment that she might see in her mom's eyes if she found out. Her mom seemed so happy that her daughter was happy, and Artemis didn't want to upset her. Besides, she argued, she could stop whenever she wanted.

After a while, she got used to things and thought that maybe, just maybe, she didn't need to cut anymore. It's easier said then done, she realized. But she had managed it. She was going strong again, being her kick ass self with out the high that cutting gave to her. But then it all came crashing down on her.

Red Tornado and his "siblings" attacked the cave. She watched as M'Gann and Kaldur lay dying in a blazing fire cage, and Wally and Conner get swallowed up by water. She watched Robin almost drown. But she managed to pull through and save the day.

The team congratulated her, but she knew she wasn't worth congratulating. To save the day, she had cut. The cut had given her her much needed high, and she rode it to save her friends. And she knew it wouldn't be as easy to stop again. Afterwards, she had to cut a couple more times, just to banish the new wave of depression that hit her.

It wasn't until after that little episode with the team where she died that she started slipping up on hiding it from the world. Her first mistake was cutting at the cave. Wally walked in on her when she was cleaning up and bandaging her fresh cut.

"Whatcha doing Arty?" He asked her.

"Nothing. I was just, uh, checking to make sure we have enough medical supplies," She stammered.

He just looked at her weird, but he accepted it. Artemis went home that night, and searched her body for a new place to start cutting since her wrists were getting pretty scarred. After that, she started cutting on her legs, high up on her thigh where no one would be able to see unless they saw her naked.

Her next mistake happened after she ran into Cheshire, her sister. Fighting her with her team just brought back bad memories. Her childhood, the verbal, and sometimes physical abuse, from her father, the fact that she'd spent her whole life learning how to kill instead of how to save. Eventually her friends managed to over power Cheshire, and she ran.

Artemis got back to the cave before she felt the depression sneaking up on her again. It felt like it was closing in on her and she was going to drown in it. She couldn't wait as long as it would take her to get home to cut, so she ran to her room and slammed her door. She looked through her drawers, flung her clothes out of her closet, and ripped off her bed sheets trying to find her knife.

When she didn't find it, she figured she would deal with the scalpels in the med area. She practically ripped her door off their hinges in her attempt to hastily run to the med area. She burst through the door, completely ignoring Kid Flash, and rummaged through the small cupboard on the wall. She found a small scalpel and held it in her hand, victory filling her heart.

She ripped off the glove of her costume and made a deep cut on her wrist, this time the front instead of the back. She bit her lip and let the pain bring on the relief and release. She grabbed the head of the scalpel and held it tight in her hand, letting it pierce her skin there, and continued to take in the beautiful pain that brought a small smile to her face.

"Oh my GOD! Artemis, what are you doing?" She barely heard Kid Flash shout at her. She was no longer on this plane. She was on the next plane over, where she didn't have a problem in the world. She suddenly felt a stinging sensation that just didn't fit in her regular heaven.

"Stop!" She complained.

"Artemis, what have you been doing to yourself?" Wally demanded. He was attempting to disinfect and bandage her wounds.

"Like you care!" Artemis argued, slowly coming off of her high. "Let go of me! I don't need your help."

"Artemis, stop. I need to take care of this," Wally tried grabbing her around the waist, but she wiggled free and tried to get him to let go of her wrist.

"No!"

"Superboy! Robin! I need you!" Wally cried out.

"No!" Artemis cried. She couldn't let them see what was happening to her.

She heard the boys come running. She tried struggling with Wally again, but she was losing steam. Her high was disappearing too quickly.

"What's wrong KF?" Robin asked, bursting into the room.

"Help me hold down Artemis," Wally told him.

"No!" Artemis started fighting again. Why was this happening to her? This wasn't what was supposed to happen. She had to bite her lip to hold the tears back. They were supposed to vanish when she cut, when she felt her one release.

She felt Superboy's arms wrap around her and she knew she couldn't fight anymore. She stopped fighting and let Robin and Kid Flash grab her arms. She heard gasps from Robin and Superboy.

"What happened?" Robin demanded.

"She was cutting herself!" Wally told him.

"Artemis? Why?" Robin asked her. She could hear the disappointment, the astonishment in his voice.

She just couldn't meet his eyes. She felt the stinging again on her hand and peaked out of the corner of her eye to see Wally disinfecting the cut on her hand. She felt light fingertips brushing her hand and her wrists. Robin started wrapping gauze around her wrist when he stopped.

"How long have you been cutting?" He asked her softly. She didn't answer. "Have you been cutting anywhere else?" She still didn't answer. "Will we have to do a strip search?"

She clenched up at that. She tried to fight again, but Superboy had a strong grip on her.

"Wally, go get M'gann and notify Aqualad about what is happening," Robin ordered Wally.

Wally nodded and zipped away. Robin continued to wrap gauze around Artemis' wrist and then started wrapping up her hand. With a slight breeze Wally was back and Artemis heard Aqualad and M'gann running to the med area.

"What is going on?" Aqualad asked.

"Artemis seems to be cutting herself. We need M'gann to check the rest of her body to see if she's cutting else where," Robin told their leader.

"Artemis?" Aqualad looked at her. She still didn't look up. She tried to escape one last time, but Superboy's grip couldn't be broken.

M'gann came forward and took Artemis' uninjured hand. She looked to Superboy and he let Artemis go. M'gann led Artemis behind one of the curtains and took off her mask for her. Artemis didn't move, and didn't help M'gann help look over her body. She didn't want to see what she had done.

M'gann was soon examining the cuts on her legs, even replacing a few bandages that were soaked with blood. M'gann sent Wally to get some pajamas from Artemis' room while Artemis just sat on the bed, looking off into space.

"Her room is trashed," Wally whispered to the small group waiting for him.

M'gann brought Artemis the sweat pants and loose t-shirt. She helped her put them on, and then looked at her arms and wrists. She removed one of the big bracelets that Artemis had been wearing and discovered even more scars underneath it. Finally she threw the curtain back and the boys approached.

"She has scars on the back of both wrists it seems and cuts up and down her legs," M'gann told them, looking at Artemis oddly.

"Can I talk to her alone?" Wally asked the team.

They met each others eyes and then Aqualad nodded. They left one by one, leaving Kid Flash and Artemis along.

"Why?" Kid Flash sat down next to Artemis on the bed.

"It feels so good," Artemis finally said. Wally winced.

"When?"

"I don't know."

"How long?" He tried.

"I don't know," She said again.

"I'm always here for you, you know that, right?" Wally told her.

Finally, Artemis broke. She started crying. Wally was startled for a minute, but then he grabbed her shoulders gently and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and sobbed into his shoulder. _Maybe there's hope for me after all_, she thought.

**I hope you guys thought it was okay. I'd appreciate it if you guys didn't do any flames or anything. I don't even really care if you comment or like it, but I really needed to get that off my chest. And I AM feeling all little better. Thanks for listening/reading guys.**

**3 LynDea**


	2. Author's note

So, you guys have asked for more, and I think I have more planned. Well, actually I was thinking of making it into two chapters and having it be longer and stuff, but it was going to be more than just a one or two-shot, what else would you guys want to happen? I mean, would you want Artemis go through all the problems of not cutting again and getting better, or what? Would you guys want Wally and Artemis to get together in my story? Just message me or comment about what else you might want to see and I'll see what I can do. Thanks guys.

3 LynDea


	3. Author's Note x2

A/N: Okay, I haven't been on the computer in a while so I haven't been able to update or anything. Honestly, I'm sinking back down into my depression, but I haven't gotten any new ideas for the book. I mean, I have ideas, but then I don't, if that makes sense. Anyways, I think I know what I want to be in the third chapter:

Thoughts from:

Green Arrow

M'Gann

Aqualad

Robin

and Kid Flash

I'll try to get it up soon, but my computer has been out of commission, so it might be a while. Thanks for reading you guys, it means alot.

3 LynDea


	4. Blood Sweat and Tears Chapter 2

M'Gann:

_What was she thinking?_ I thought.

I don't know a lot about Earth and some of it's customs, but I'm pretty sure that one of the customs isn't the hurting of one's self. I thought back to when I saw the scars on Artemis's body. She had them up and down her legs. Some were fresh, some were scabbing over, some were healed. Most were ugly, thick lines on her lightly tanned skin.

I can sense the sorrow that Artemis is feeling, and I feel horrible for not noticing it sooner. I was completely overwhelmed by Artemis's feelings of hopelessness and depression. It was a horrible feeling to have, but I wasn't sure if it was a good enough excuse to start hurting yourself. How am I suppose to act around Artemis now? What am I suppose to say to her? Would I be able to look at her the same way again?

Her wrists were even worse. There were scars all over the backs of her wrists, and quite a few were just barely healing. I grabbed Conner's hand, hoping to feel something solid in this confusing world. I also tried to block out Artemis's painful emotions. I feel sorry for my friend, but that pain was just to much for me to bare. Conner held me close. I knew he didn't understand much of what was going on either.

"I feel so helpless!" I confessed to my team members, throwing my hands up in the air. "What are we going to do?"

"I do not know," Aqualad told us.

"What does all this mean?" Conner asked us.

"Yeah, what is happening with Artemis?" I asked. "I mean, I know that she was hurting herself and she's sad, but I don't know what they have to do with each other?"

"When people are sad and depressed, they may feel hopeless. Sometimes, well, they feel self-destructive. And some people, I guess people call them emos, start cutting themselves to help with the pain they are feeling. And it looks like that's what happened with Artemis," Robin tried to explain it to us the best he could.

"Oh," I said.

"Oh," Conner said. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"That's horrible," I said. "What are we suppose to do now?"

"We need to try to help her," Aqualad said.

"Well, obviously," Superboy snarled.

I squeezed his hand to calm him down. "But how?" I asked.

"I do not know. Maybe with time we will find out." Aqualad said.

Aqualad:

The team turned to me to lead them in this hard time, but how was I to lead them when I didn't even know what was going on myself? Why was Artemis so sad that it turned her against herself? Or was that what was going on? I, like Conner and M'Gann, did not know much about the usually things that went on on Earth.

This is my fault, I thought. I should have noticed it sooner. I'm the leader. I should have been asking how she was, how her day had been, if she was okay or not. But I hadn't. I just assumed, like everyone else I guess, that she was healthy and happy. She seemed to act that way. But if she was so full of pain, how could she laugh and joke with us?

I didn't understand what was going on at all. But the one thing I did know was that it was my fault and I had no idea what to do about it.

Green Arrow:

"What is this I'm hearing?" I shouted at her. She winced. Maybe I shouldn't have yelled.

"I don't know. What have you been hearing?" She replied.

"That you've been _cutting_?" I tried to speak quieter, but from the way she winced I guess it didn't work out.

"What do you want from me?" Artemis shouted back.

I was startled to see tears in her eyes. I had never seen a lot of emotion from the blonde haired girl before me, so I could do nothing but stare at her opened mouth.

"Artemis," I tried to say, stepping forward towards her. I brought my hand up to rest of her shoulder, but she recoiled away form me. "What happened?" I asked her.

"Why do you care?" She demanded.

"Because I'm suppose to be your uncle, and how does it look if I don't show the care that uncles would usually show their nieces?" I was loosing my patience. This was not how I wanted this conversation to go.

"Yeah, well, you're not my uncle! So maybe you should stop pretending to be one!" It was my turn to wince, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Look, Artemis, I'm trying to help you -"

"I don't need your help!" She interpreted me, storming away from me.

"Artemis," I said, reaching out my hand. She ignored me and continued walking.

"Smooth," I head Batman say behind me. I jumped.

"Did you know about this?" I started shouting again.

"The fact you weren't her uncle or the cutting?" He asked.

"Don't act stupid, it isn't attractive. You know what I mean!" I snarled. His twisted humor wasn't helping me.

"Yes, I knew," He confessed.

"I guess it was a stupid question. You're Batman. You know everything," I chuckled humorlessly. "Why didn't you stop her!"

"Because it wasn't my place," He told me.

"I don't give a damn if it was your place or not, you should have stopped her! Or at least told someone about it!" I ripped my hat off and threw it on the ground. I ran a hand through my blonde hair.

"It will all work out, Oliver," Batman told me.

I ignored him. I picked up my hat and left the cave. Today did not go how I wanted it too

**Okay guys, I'm running out of juice. So it's just gonna be these three for this chapter and I'll put the others in the next chapter. Tell me what you thought about it. Thanks guys.**

**3 LynDea**

**P.S. Those are suppose to be hearts:p**


	5. Blood Sweat and Tears Chapter 3

Robin:

When Kid Flash called for me and Conner to go help him, I had no idea what to expect.

What could be going on for Kid Flash to sound so panic stricken? Conner and I ran to the med area and burst into the room. Artemis was struggling with Wally, her hand and wrist dripping blood.

"What's wrong KF?" I asked, trying to access the situation.

"Help me hold down Artemis!" Wally told me. Conner grabbed her around the waist and Wally grabbed the hand that was bleeding.

"What happened?" I demanded.

"She's cutting herself!" Wally told me, his eyes full of disbelief.

"Artemis?" I was astonished, "Why?" I tried to force the disappointment out of my voice.

She didn't answer me. Wally had some gauze and disinfectant in his hand. He was attempting to disinfect the cut on her hand. She's going to need stitches, I thought. I took the gauze from him and started to wrap up her wrist. Artemis had been so strong. What got her to start cutting? Why was she cutting? Why didn't she tell us? So many questions ran through my head, but right now I new that I needed to take care of Artemis before I started asking her to many questions. I started with the basic ones.

"How long have you been cutting?" I asked her gently, trying to get a better look at her wrist and arm. She didn't answer me. I saw her other wrist and the cuts on the back of that one. I grabbed her right wrist and gently brushed my gloved hand over the scars. "Have you been cutting anywhere else?" She still didn't answer me. "Will we need to do a strip search?"

I didn't want to have to do that to her, but I had to know. I had to know what she was doing, how bad the damage was, before I could start to come up with a way to fix it. She started to violently fight against Conner's grip, but he held fast. She finally stopped fighting and let out a angry, dry sob.

"Wally, go get M'Gann and notify Aqualad about what is happening," I told Kid Flash. While he was gone I finished wrapping up Artemis's wrist and started on her hands. Soon Wally was back.

I could hear Aqualad's feet on the ground and Artemis let out another, although quieter, sob.

"What is going on?" Aqualad asked.

"Artemis seems to be cutting herself. We need M'gann to check the rest of her body to see if she's cutting else where," I told the Atlantian.

"Artemis?" Aqualad looked at her. Artemis wouldn't look up. She tried to get free from Conner again, but it didn't work.

M'gann came forward and took Artemis' uninjured hand. She looked at Conner assuredly and he released his hold on Artemis. M'Gann led Artemis behind one of the curtained areas in the med area. The only thing we boys could do now was wait. The look on Kaulder's face was that of, shock possibly? As if he couldn't believe what was happening. Wally wore a matching frown.

M'Gann came out and i took a step forward to ask about Artemis's injuries. But she shook her head and asked Wally to go get some pajamas from Artemis's room. Wally left and was back in just a few seconds.

"Her room is trashed," Wally whispered to Conner, Kaulder, and I.

M'gann brought Artemis the sweat pants and loose t-shirt. She spent a little bit longer behind the curtain, probably helping Artemis get dressed. Finally she threw the curtain back and we approached.

"She has scars on the back of both wrists it seems and cuts up and down her legs," M'gann told us, looking at Artemis oddly.

Artemis sat down on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest. She wouldn't look any of us in the eye.

"Can I talk to her alone?" Wally asked us.

I looked to Kaulder and then at the rest of the team. Aqualad nodded and we all left.

"She's going to need stitches," I told Kaulder.

"We will deal with that after Kid Flash has talked to her and she has calmed down.

"I feel so useless!" M'Gann suddenly said. I could only nod.

Afterwards I didn't pay much attention to what was going on. I barely even paid attention when the rest of the team asked me a question. I let my subconscious answer.

I didn't notice it. I was the protege of BATMAN! He knows EVERYTHING! He probably even knew about Artemis's cutting. But I didn't know. Why didn't I know? She's not only my teammate, but my friend. We live in the same city, we go to the same school, not that she knows that. I should have seen it!

This was my fault. Wait! I shouldn't see this that way. She hid it from us so well. Just because I didn't notice didn't necessarily mean it was my fault. Besides, the rest of the team would probably be thinking along that line.

"We need to help her," Kaulder said.

"But how?" M'Gann asked, un-shed tears glinting in her eyes.

"Maybe with time we will find out," Kaulder said.

I nodded again.

Kid Flash:

I sat there and held the crying Artemis in my arms. Usually if one of my friends were sad, I'd try to cheer them up with a joke, but I couldn't think of any to help Artemis's situation.

"Shhh," I told her, rubbing her back.

When I thought she wasn't paying attention, I kissed the side of her head. She just kept on crying. I started rocking myself back and forth, rocking Artemis with me. She started calming down a little.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked her.

"I don't know," She told me. She started scratching at her wrist.

"Don't mess with that," I told her. "You may need stitches."

She didn't say anything.

"You're gonna be okay, Beautiful," I told her, rubbing her shoulder.

I looked down at her and saw her half smile.

Suddenly I heard stomping outside of the door and it burst open.

"Artemis, I need to talk to you," I looked over and saw Green Arrow glaring at the crying girl in my arms. She tensed up.

"Right now might not be a good time," I tried to tell him, holding Artemis holding her closer to me.

"I need to talk to her right now," He responded and stomped away.

'He's my uncle," She said, but she didn't sound to convincing, "I guess I should follow him." She pulled away.

She sounded sad.

"You don't need too," I told her, immediately.

"I don't have a choice," She said. She wrapped her arms around her and followed her uncle out of the room.

Robin entered soon after she left. "I saw Green Arrow," He told me.

"He wanted to talk to Artemis," I told him. "But how did he find out so soon? She just barely told us."

Robin was quiet. "I think Aqualad told him," He confessed.

I got angry. "Why would he do that?! She doesn't need to get a lecture so soon after what just happened."

"You're angry," Robin observed, smirking a little.

"Hell yeah I am!" I said, glaring at him.

"But why?" He asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember Biaylia?"

"Yes?"

"And how you two were really close before you remembered?"

I was quiet for a while. "Yeah, so?"

"And then when we had that false mission not to long ago?" He asked me.

"What are you trying to get at?" I finally demanded.

"You like her!" He said, smiling.

I sighed. "Maybe I do," I told him.

"That's good," He told me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"She's going through a hard time right now. She needs someone to be there for her. And if you like her, you would be perfect."

"How would I be perfect?" I asked him.

"You would be kind and gentle to her. You would be there for her through think and thin. She needs someone to be beside her. She's going to have a rough couple of weeks," he told me.

"What if she doesn't want me to be with her through this 'thick and thin'?" I asked him.

"I think she will," He told me.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked him, raising my eyebrow.

"I'm Batman's partner and son. I know everything," He laughed.

I sighed. "Whatever."

I got up and left to find Artemis. Then I stopped. It had occurred to me that she may have hidden knives in her room and that was why it was trashed. She must have been so desperate to find it that she tore her room apart looking for it. Before ditching the idea and going to the med area for he scalpel.

I went to her room and looked at the mess. I didn't know when she would be back. Robin stopped beside me.

"What are you doing?" He asked me.

"Artemis might have hidden knives in her room. We need to find them and get rid of them so she doesn't start hurting herself again," I told him.

"I never thought of that. Good work KF," He told me.

"We may need to clean her room at wherever she lives in case she has knives there too. But I don't know where she lives," I told him.

"You take care of her room here. I'll deal with the rest," Robin told me.

I looked at him. "Okay, I trust you," I finally told him.

He disappeared and I entered Artemis's room. I started cleaning it up. I went through her drawers and checked under her bed and between her covers. I found at least two. I didn't know how many more she might have, but I decided to leave it at that.

I heard running and crying. I knew it was Artemis. She burst into her room.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, tears streaming down her face.

I held up the two knives. "I'm trying to make sure you don't start hurting yourself again."

"Give me those!" She shouted and lunged at me.

I side stepped her. "No. You're going to thank me later. Right now, we need to look at your wrist and hand."

"Why?" She asked.

"I think you're going to need stitches. Now we can either do it the easy way where you don't fight me and it's over nice and easy, or we can do it the hard way where we will inevitably need to knock you out. What do you want?" I asked her.

She just turned away from me and curled up on the ground.

"Artemis," I said, kneeling down beside her. "I care about you. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore. Please, let me help you," I pleaded with her.

She just looked at me and held out her arms. I took that as a sign of cooperation and picked her up bridal style. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I slowly walked back to the med area.

I prayed to whatever form of God that was listening that I would be able to help Artemis.

**AN: **

**Well, I think that went rather well, don't you? I've realized that I'm probably gonna be able to write this better from Artemis's point of view since I've dealt with cutting myself, but maybe from one of the others' point of view since I also had a friend or two that was cutting. I don't really know what will happen yet. I just know that I will probably be doing more of this from Artemis's point then the others, though I'll try to do some of Wally too. I just love this couple. And thank you too Loresign for giving me so many good ideas. And thank you to anyone else who is reading it:) **

**3 LynDea**


	6. Blood Sweat and Tears Chapter 4

**Here's a new chapter, I hope. I've been out of my depression funk, so this might end up being kind of difficult. If you guys have any ideas about what you want to see, they would be greatly appreciated:) On with the show!**

**Blood, Sweat, and Tears**

**Four: Artemis**

In the end, Wally took me to the hospital to get stitches. They didn't ask me any questions, and for that I was glad. They just patched me up. The stitches hurt, but I refused to get pain medication. I didn't want to get addicted to drugs next.

When they first started the stitches, I grabbed Wally's hand. He didn't say anything. He just let me squeeze his hand when it hurt too much.

When we left, he was still holding my hand. Or, I guess I was still holding his hand. He still didn't say anything, and I felt strangely comfortable holding onto him. He felt like a life line in this crazy life of mine. And when the hell did I start thinking _that_?

How did I even start this in the first place? What had happened to me? And what was going to happen to me now?

I felt horrible. How could I stoop so low? I felt embarrassed. How was I going to face my friends again after all this happened? After what they had found out. And what was I going to do about my mom? I hoped to God that she wouldn't find out. I just wouldn't be able to stand it if she did.

I felt myself start to tense up all over again. I needed to calm down. But how? Wally seemed to notice that I was struggling, and he squeezed my hand tightly.

"Hey, you need to relax," he told me. He voice was so comforting, I could picture myself getting lost in it.

"God, I just can't get my emotions together," I told him.

"Everything will be alright," he said, placing his hand on my cheek.

I wasn't sure what was happening, but I leaned forward and kissed him. It felt so good, so right. But he pulled away.

"What?" I started.

"Look, I don't want to take advantage of you Artemis," he said. His eyes looked different, I couldn't quiet place it.

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"You're at a very emotional state right now. I don't want to do anything with you that you might regret later when you're not so, uh, emotional."

"Ugh! Whatever!" I turned and stomped away.

I didn't really know where I was going, but I didn't care. What was up with me? Did Wally just not like me like that? I kinda thought he had, with the way he was being so nice to me. Maybe I was just seeing things.

I could feel my blood start to roll again. I always felt this way before I would cut. I shouldn't be feeling this again! I stopped and put my arms around myself. I bent over, trying to keep myself together. I heard footsteps behind me.

"Artemis!" I heard Wally say.

"Look, it's not like I don't like you like that, but _you _may not like _me _like that," he started to say.

"Just, take me home," I could feel tears start to form behind my eyes.

...

I was at school when I felt it come over me again. That feeling. The feeling to cut. The feeling to relieve my stress and sadness. It came after a text message from one of my old friends from my old high school. We had been having a stupid fight.

_Dnt tlk 2 me lke were kewl, _she texted me.

_What can I do 2 fix this? _I pleaded with her.

_Idk. Bye. _She replied.

She was being ridiculous! I knew that, but I could feel that stressful feeling again. That boiling feeling beneath my skin.

I looked around the classroom, home ec, praying that I could find something, anything to help me. I looked at my phone. Wally told me to text him whenever I felt like this again, but I didn't want to admit to him that I was a failure. Again.

I got up and walked over to teacher's desk. She was helping a few students, so she wasn't anywhere near. I looked at her desk. I saw a couple scissors.

I shouldn't be doing this! I had gone a week without any incident, how could this throw me off so much? I snatched up a pair of scissors and tested the edge. A small line of blood appeared. I hadn't even expected it to work.

I brought it to the back of my hand, the closest piece of skin I could reach without having to move my jacket aside. I placed it on my skin, and pressed. I dragged it along my skin not even an inch when I felt the familiar tickle.

I stared at the blood in horror. What had I done?


	7. Blood, Sweat, and Tears Replies

**I was reading through your guys' reviews, and I can't tell you how much it means. I now, I hope I can help you guys. This isn't really a chapter, I think It's gonna be a challenge. **

**CoLoRfUlBoOkWoRm: I know how that feels too. One of my friends... She went through this too. She talked to me, maybe she was asking for help, I don't know. She told me how she was cutting, and how her life seemed to be going down hill, but at the time, I didn't know what to do. I just told her that I had gone through it too, but I just felt overwhelmed because I had started because... I thought it was kinda cool, honestly. One of my friends was doing it, and I wanted to know what it was like. That was the (pardon my grammar if this is wrong) worst thing I could have done. I regret it. But I more regret that I wasn't able to help her. I tried my best, but I failed. She started on drugs, and had to go to a rehabilitation center. And now I've moved away from her and I can't be there to help her. **

**What I suggest to you? Be there. Be there, even if it's not a good time, for either of you. Be there, even if it's an inconvenience to you. Be there, no matter what happens. Be there, and keep an eye on her. And, if she seems to be getting worse, tell someone. **

**That's what I should have done. I realize that now. Hell, I wish I had someone do that for me. Just to know that I was being cared about and that I was worth something to someone. Tell her, that if she doesn't get help herself, that you will tell her parents, or someone about what she is going through, so that they can get help for her. And never give up on her. **

**Thank you, very much. **

**And, my name is Kristen:)**

**Loresign: **

**Thank you for your amazing ideas, and for just being there. Ugh. Maybe I just taking stuff out of context, but thanks anyways. :)**

**And to everyone else:**

**I am gonna give you a challenge. **

**Life, honestly, is hell. Absolute hell. Some people may think that life is a party and that's it's all fun and games, but maybe they just haven't got a good enough look around. **

**"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."**

**-Plato**

**What I want you guys to do, is be there for someone. Look around, and if you see someone that seems to be struggling, be there for them. I don't care if you're popular and they're not. I don't care if they are nerds, and you don't like people with glasses or braces. **

**What I want you to do is just be there. Eat lunch with them. Talk to them. Hell, just say hi to them. Smile. I promise you. It will make their day. **

**And, if something good comes out of this challenge that I've given, tell me. Or just tell me if you even attempted it. Not only is it nice to share stories when it comes to these things, but it might help me. You never know. I might use your story to help with mine. You don't have to give me a review. You can PM me, if you want. **

**I won't use your story unless you give me permission too. The world is hell. Try to make it less of a hell for those that are struggling. Thank you. I hope you guys have a good day. I'll try to update soon. **

**Love, **

**LynDea**


End file.
